"Content Finder" - Please be careful

[Belial]

Then don't use the optional tool to play with random people if you won't enjoy it - just play with your friends and linkshell mates instead.

Sorry Crica, but most people don't understand this. You'll hear copious amounts of complaints about how this will "ruin the community" without anyone willing to take the initiative to form said community.

I'm an MMO veteran. I've played EQ, FFXI, WoW, Rift, Age of Conan and now FFXIV. Despite all these "community-killing tools" that people are so adamant about stopping from being implemented, I've never had -any- problem finding a good community in any MMO (Yes, you heard right. This even means WoW!) Even to this day, good communities exist in all MMOs. The problem is, the same people who complain about the tools are the same people who feel they have to use them, when in reality if you do a little leg work you can find great guilds/linkshells within -any- MMO.

You don't like cross-server dungeon tools? Don't use them. You want to be a part of a community? Then take some damn initiative and help FORM a community. You don't get to just walk into a game and instantly be welcomed by the playerbase. Make friends, talk to people... if they don't talk back... guess what? They don't want to talk to you. And they don't have to.

[Llewelyn]

I'm so completely on the same page as the original poster. If the content finder ultimately behaves like a beefed up FFXI search, it'll be fantastic. If it just groups people without you having to invite them yourself... a LOT is lost.

Not just in the case of griefers.

In FFXI, the /sea command was pretty advanced. You could search for people in the 50-54 range with a speicific job. say 5 show up seeking parties, and lets assume they all want to do whatever you're recruiting for.

Being able to choose among those people to invite means you can invite people you've partied with before. So while the ultimate goal might be to get a party together, the real goal is to get a group of people to have fun with. Given the choice between someone you've partied with before and a stranger (or someone you KNOW is terrible/an ass), I think most people would pick the one they've met.

And the strangers shouldn't be worse off for it. If the content finder works well, then there'll be other people wanting to do the same content, and they'll manage to hook up for it.

The auto-party in FFXI was never used. There are reasons for that besides the fact it didn't work well mechanically.

[ellohwell]

Then don't use the optional tool to play with random people if you won't enjoy it - just play with your friends and linkshell mates instead.

That so isn't the point. I alone can't change the dynamic of the server, or lack thereof as the case may be if such a system gets implemented. Nothing anyone does matters in an entrance lobby masquerading as an MMO.

[bobbygunz]

I'm so completely on the same page as the original poster. If the content finder ultimately behaves like a beefed up FFXI search, it'll be fantastic. If it just groups people without you having to invite them yourself... a LOT is lost.

Not just in the case of griefers.

In FFXI, the /sea command was pretty advanced. You could search for people in the 50-54 range with a speicific job. say 5 show up seeking parties, and lets assume they all want to do whatever you're recruiting for.

Being able to choose among those people to invite means you can invite people you've partied with before. So while the ultimate goal might be to get a party together, the real goal is to get a group of people to have fun with. Given the choice between someone you've partied with before and a stranger (or someone you KNOW is terrible/an ass), I think most people would pick the one they've met.

And the strangers shouldn't be worse off for it. If the content finder works well, then there'll be other people wanting to do the same content, and they'll manage to hook up for it.

The auto-party in FFXI was never used. There are reasons for that besides the fact it didn't work well mechanically.

Let's just hope that they implement the content finder as badly in FFXIV as they did the autoparty in FFXI.

[ThePatriarch]

Let's just hope that they implement the content finder as badly in FFXIV as they did the autoparty in FFXI.